Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-09-17
EXCESS OF ENERGY.
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE STUNG BY
THE GADFLY OF COMPETITION.

ProverbiaI Philosophy That l. Partly ia
Blame-Labor. In Itself. without Dig
nity-Lc.rn to Re.t-En-cts of over
| study-'festina Lente."
! The vice Of the Nineteenth century Is
excess of energy. While il is true that
! there are exceptional cases Of those who,
i'll familiar slang. are born tired. the
characteristic of the time is pushing,
| driving. restless. uneasy habit of mind
| and body, a constant struggle To- get on,
to attain wealth, or fame. or position. and
all this too often with utter disregard Of
the means employed, and with a criminal
carlessness of the wear and tear of the
machine, mental and physical. We are
| stung by the gadtiy of competition, and
Coaded 10 renewed effort by ambition and
/ the well meant but really pernicous ad-
vice of those to whom our success in life
is near and dear. To be content with our
station in life is regarded as un-AInerican
and unpatriotic, and us every soldier in
the French army is said to carry mar
shal's baton in his knapsack, so every
American youth is presumed TO have
| enormous wealth or high political station
| within his reach, and if he fails 10 strain
every nerve to grasp il he is deemed what
our Anglo Saxon progenitors called MD
derinS "A worthless, useless, ambition
less fellow.
Some of the cheap and tawdry Poor
Richard style of proverbial philosophy
must bear its share of the blame for this
condition of affairs. The remark at
tributed To Daniel Webster that there is
always room at the top of the ladder has
probably been instrumental in turning
out more poor and inefficient lawyers than
all the law schools of the country. The
poor. deluded disciples of Blackstone fail
TO see that there is so much room because
few reach the top of the ladder, and
that the top rounds are more often at
tained by series Of happy accidents than
by plodding industry, especially if the
plodder have industry and nothing else.
DIGNITY OF LABOR"
Another phrase about which folios have
been written and on which the press the
pulpit and the stage have expended much
eloGuence, the dignity OF labor" is
equally mischievous. Labor in itself pos
sesses no quality Of dignity. 1t is irk-
some, disagreeable, sordid. mean and
grinding. II eXtinguishes aspirations for
higher things: il eNhauSts the capacity
for enjoyment; il makes an abjeCt slave
Of a free man. And yet we are told. al
nauseam, of the dignity OF labor. Labor
is only a means to an end. II is period
of probation, to be followed at some time,
as we all hope. by rest.
There may be, and often is, much dig
nifty. much elevation Of character, in the
man or woman who labors: but this il not
because of his or her labor, but in spite of
it. A human Soul will shine through any
disguise, and true nobility Of character
will reveal itself under the most adverse
circumstances; but 10 say that one pos
sessing those qualities has them multi
piled or intensified by labor is TO say that
a lovely landscape would be made more
beautiful by being viewed through
smoked glass. or that fair woman is
more fair in rags and tatters than i'll silk
or satin.
LEARN TO REST.
But since toll is the destiny of the hu-
man race, a destiny as ineXorable rs fate
itself. is ii not the part Of wisdom To seek
to alleviate our condition by every means
in our power, Though We are hemmed
in by the iron walls Of necessity. nothing
prevents us from making our imprison-
ment as endurable rs possible, and to do
this we must cultivate the capacity for re-
pose. We must learn to rest rs well as
TO toll. We must become impressed with
the absolute necessity for cessation from
labor and the urgent demand of mind and
body for recuperation.
Activity of any kind can reach its most
successful results only when it is alter
mated ny sufficient periods of rest. and the
capacity for repose must be developed in
every man if his best possibilities are ever
TO be realized. Modern science has sufii-
ciently demonstrated this SO far as merely
physical culture is concerned. Not only
is the imperative necessity for sleep uni
versally acknowledged, but it is also con-
ceded by all students of human energy
that at least one day in seven should be
kept as day of rest for the body, and this
Independent Of any religious considera-
tions. Many and careful observations
have been made on this question, and
their result amounts to an actual demon
stration that no man or set Of men can
work effectively more than six-sevenths Of
the time, and that any attempt to run the
human machine beyond this limit means
its destruction.
STRAINED By STUDY.
Mental vigor is equally dependent upon
the harmonious relations Of activity and
repose, and ignorance Of this most i'm
portant fact is a defect in every modern
system of education. The constant ten
dency of the age is towards too rapid de-
velopment of the mental powers and
towards reaching the goal too soon. The
powers of thought are often strained too
tensely for their own good, study is made
too continuous and too monotOnous, and
refreshment for the wearied brain is too
little studied OF considered.
But how could il be otherwise. Teach
ers and leaders have never been taught to
rest. How. then. can they teach otherss
They are constantly urged forward by the
pressure Of public opinion to perform, or
attempt to perform, miracles. They are
expected TO put SO much into a child, no
matter whether the child is capable Of
retaining it OF not. Their positions often
depend not on what they have taught the
children or pupils under their charge, but
upon how much OF the curriculum they
have gone through in a given time-in
short, they are expected to successfully
manage the machinery of the Procrustean
bed, and make the pupils fit the lessons,
and not the lessons the pupils.
The Roman philosophers maxim, fes
tina lente-hasten slowly-is too often
overlooked in this rapid age of the world.
Va baya NOT or think wa baya NOT fj,pa